News - Friday, April 5, 2019

Hamilton County General Sessions Judge Clarence Shattuck spent his last moments on the bench doing what he’d done for the better part of four decades: encouraging a person who stood before him to live a better life.

As the young man listened, Judge Shattuck told him to begin by adhering to his father, who was standing beside him. “You might think you’re smarter than him, and you might even score higher than him on an IQ test, but he’s older and wiser than you, so listen to him,” the judge admonished.

Attorney Whitney Standefer-Smith has launched Local Venture Legal, a boutique business law practice geared toward promoting and supporting the growth of ventures in the greater Chattanooga area.

The firm is focused on serving startups and small businesses looking for tailored legal counsel that will not break the bank as well as larger businesses looking for a law firm committed to a more expansive economic development mission, Standefer-Smith says.

The Tennessee Supreme Court has amended Supreme Court Rule 7, which focuses on the licensing of attorneys to practice law in Tennessee.

These most recent changes follow other modifications that were made to the rule over the past several years, including adoption of the Uniform Bar Exam and the Tennessee Law Course, temporary licensing for spouses of military servicemembers and admitting lawyers educated outside of the United States.

Keller Williams Greater Realty Downtown recently announced its 2018 agent awards. The event was the first in the company’s new building at 1830 Washington St. and came on the heels of Greater Realty Downtown being named one of the top 10 market centers across every Keller Williams office everywhere for units closed this past January.

The spring buying season is off to a strong start thanks to an unexpectedly large drop in mortgage rates.

Joel Kan, Mortgage Bankers associate vice president of economic and industry forecasting, says purchase applications jumped 6% and refinance applications surged over 12%. Kan also points out that rates have dropped across all loan types and the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is now more than 70 basis points below November’s peak.

Buying your first house is a rewarding and exciting experience, but financing it can be daunting if you don’t know what to expect.

In both cases, do your research and shop carefully to ensure you find what you want and need.

Deciding how much to spend on your home and which type of mortgage will work best for you – as well as understanding the settlement process – can be confusing. However, there are many sources that can prepared you well before you step foot into a sales office, model home or open house.

Chattanooga Film Festival Executive Director Chris Dortch loves a good Blu-ray or DVD extra. As a passionate fan of films, he enjoys the illuminating glimpses into how the magic that captivates him as he watches a movie is cast.

So, as Dortch and his team began to envision the sixth iteration of CFF, April 11-14 at the Chattanooga Theatre Centre, one of his objectives was to offer festivalgoers experiences that contextualize the films on the schedule and offer insight into why they’re special.

Just in case anyone thought the Tennessee General Assembly was all serious, all the time, it’s not.

Sandwiched this year among bills on school choice, voting rights, criminal justice reform and taxation are bills on cowboys, dogs, recording artists and breakfast. Granted, some of these bills aren’t going anywhere, but they’re available online via the General Assembly website, capitol.tn.gov, for those who would like a little break from heavier topics.

Global insurance brokerage Hub International and Tennessee Realtors have launched one of the nation’s first association health plans for a professional trade association.

“HUB understands the importance of quality, comprehensive, accessible heath care, especially for small businesses,” says Mike Barone, president of employee benefits at HUB.

STEP TN, a harm-reduction and education program for injection drug users co-administered by Cempa Community Care, saw a steep increase in the number of people served during an 11-month period ending Jan. 31.

After serving only seven people during the first month, STEP TN ultimately served 660 people during that period.

It’s been 107 years this month since the tragedy of the Titanic. This disaster has fascinated the world ever since, leading to books, movies, musicals and, ultimately, a successful search for the big ship’s remains.

On the positive side, commercial shipping lines learned a much from the Titanic, resulting in safer travel across the oceans. And as an investor, you, too, may be able to draw some important lessons from what happened on that cold April night more than a century ago.

La Paz Chattanooga has added Irma Velazquez to its business development team as business development coordinator. Velazquez is a native of Mexico who has spent most of her life in the U.S. and has lived in Chattanooga since 1999.

Velazquez will support Compañía, La Paz Chattanooga’s business development department, which works with the local business community to create opportunities for local professionals seeking to network with the Latino community, provide professional development programming for Latino entrepreneurs to build their skill set and connect businesses and agencies to the Latino market.

The City of Chattanooga’s Office of Early Learning will host a community celebration of Mayor Andy Berke’s Seats for Success initiative Wednesday, April 3.

The Mayor’s goal is to create 1,000 early learning seats by the end of his term in spring 2021. The celebration will take place 5-7 p.m. at the Bessie Smith Cultural Center. The event is free to attend but since dinner will be served an RSVP is required. Those interested in attending or wanting more information can reach out to Angela Hayes at ahayes@chattanooga.gov or 423 643-6416.